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Trial to Test Osteopathic Techniques to Treat COPD
Researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing are testing hands-on osteopathic treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, a common lung disease. The two-year, $100,000 study is funded by the American Osteopathic Association and Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. Osteopathic medicine treats the patient as a whole rather than individual systems or parts. Treatment methods…
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NIH Grant to Fund Translational Research on Blood Clotting
National Institutes of Health will fund a translational research center at University of Utah in Salt Lake City to study the cellular and molecular causes of blood clots. Andew Weyrich, a professor medicine at Utah, will lead the five-year, $16 million effort. The new Translational Research Center in Thrombosis aims to find new diagnostic, preventative,…
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Texas AgriLife, BP to Partner on Biofuel Feedstocks
Texas AgriLife Research, part of Texas A&M University in College Station, and BP Biofuels agreed to develop and commercialize cellulosic feedstocks for the production of biofuels. Financial details of the three-year agreement were not disclosed. The R&D project, says Texas AgriLife, combines plant breeding and production agronomics. The plant breeding segment will develop new varieties…
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Chemical in Hand Soap Found to Impair Muscle Functions
Research at University of California at Davis and University of Colorado in Aurora indicates triclosan, an antibacterial chemical used in soap and other personal-care products, hinders muscle contractions in animals, causing weakness in mice and slower swimming ability in fish. The team led by UC Davis veterinary medical professor Isaac Pessah published its findings online…
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Sapphire Fiber Optics Deliver Higher Transmission Capacity
Materials scientists and engineers from Clemson University in South Carolina and University of Illinois developed sapphire fibers with greater capacity for high-energy optical transmissions than current silica-based fibers. The team led by John Ballato, director of Clemson’s Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (pictured left), appears online in this week’s issue of Nature…
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New Fuel Cell Generates More Power from Wastewater
Ecological engineers at Oregon State University in Corvallis developed techniques that advance the use of wastewater from cities or factories to generate electricity. The findings of the team led by Hong Liu (pictured right), professor of biologicial and ecological engineering, appear in the journal Energy and Environmental Science; paid subscription required. Earlier microbial fuel cells…
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Polymer Materials Discovered That Resist Bacteria Attachment
Researchers at University of Nottingham in the U.K. and Massachusetts Institute of Technology identified a new class of polymer materials that resist the attachment of bacterial pathogens. The team headed by Nottingham’s Morgan Alexander appears online in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required). According to the university, infections related to medical devices, caused by…
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FDA Approves Diabetic Macular Edema Treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the drug ranibizumab, given by injection to treat diabetic macular edema, an eye disease that occurs in people with diabetes. Genentech, a division of the global pharmaceutical company Roche in South San Francisco, California, markets the drug under the name Lucentis. Diabetic macular edema can cause…
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Math Model Identifies Network Source of Rumors, Epidemics
Computer scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) devised mathematical routines to dissect interactions in a network to uncover the source of epidemics and rumors, as well as criminal masterminds. Results of the research led by Pedro Pinto of EFPL’s Audiovisual Communications Laboratory appear today in the journal Physical Review Letters…
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Imaging Technology Devised to Identify Infection Response
Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville developed techniques using current imaging technologies to generate a three-dimensional view of the body’s response to infection. The findings of the team led by pathologist Eric Skaar (pictured right) appear in a recent issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe; paid subscription required. The Vanderbilt team combines magnetic…